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Here's a little something to liven up the week in gamerland: Xbox is hosting a third-party games showcase on Thursday, October 17 at 1PM ET. A 4K, 60 fps stream will be available on YouTube in English with live subtitles in 16 other languages (Xbox will add subtitles for more languages after the fact). The Xbox channel will have versions of the show with audio description and American Sign Language (ASL). A British Sign Language version will be available on the Xbox On channel. You'll also be able to watch the stream in English and ASL on Twitch, as well as on, uh, LinkedIn. The Partner Preview stream will run for around 25 minutes and it will include more than a dozen trailers from Xbox's partners. You'll get a look at the next Alan Wake 2 expansion (The Lake House), Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii gameplay and some bosses in a Soulslike called Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. Xbox is also promising some new game reveals along with release date announcements. As you'd expect, many of these titles will be coming to Game Pass in one form or another. Xbox is ending the year with a reasonably packed slate of first-party games, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle yet to come. Still, it's always nice to see platform holders shine the spotlight on games from third-party publishers and developers. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-is-hosting-a-partner-showcase-on-october-17-at-1pm-et-174034491.html?src=rss
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The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones came out almost exactly a year ago and now Amazon is selling the Lunar Blue colorway for $329, which is $100 off the MSRP (other hues are full price). We saw this price last week for all four colors during Amazon's fall sale. Lunar Blue looks to be a limited edition, which could account for the discount, or it could just be Amazon's way of keeping the deals engines burning after the end of October Prime Day. Engadget's Billy Steele reviewed these when they came out last October, awarding them a respectable 86. The difference between this Ultra version and Bose's standard QuietComfort headphones is the integration of Bose's version of spatial audio. The design saw some changes too, with a single multifunction control instead of the three buttons to handle playback and mode functions. There's also a touch strip to adjust the volume. Some of the plastic was swapped out in favor of metal, and we found the comfort to be the same high level as with previous Bose cans particularly for long listening sessions. And, of course, the active noise cancellation is still among the best you can get. As for the Immersive Audio (the marquee feature) it's good sometimes. It works with all content not just content created to support it, such as Dolby Atmos in Apple Music or Sony's 360 Reality Audio. But since it's relying on signal processing instead of specially engineered sounds, the results vary. Sometimes it sounds great, other times not so much. But thankfully, Bose has improved the audio all around, so even without the new feature, the sound is warmer and clearer than on the standard QCs. In our guide to the best wireless headphones, we mention QuietComfort Ultra but point out that the $100 price jump from the standard QCs (our current ANC pick) isn't quite worth it, since the success of the spatial audio isn't consistent. But with this discount, the blue QC Ultra headphones are currently $20 cheaper than the originals. Could be a good day to go for the pricer/not pricier version. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-bose-quietcomfort-ultra-headphones-are-back-on-sale-at-their-lowest-price-yet-173728366.html?src=rss
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The head of Xbox Game Studios Alan Hartman is set to retire at the end of November, marking an end to 30 years working at Microsoft. Appointed to succeed him is Craig Duncan, the studio head of Rare, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2002. To fill in for Duncans eventual departure from the studio, Joe Neate and Jim Horth will take over as co-leads of Rare, as seen in an internal memo seen by The Verge: In his new role, Craig will continue to focus on helping our studios deliver high-quality, differentiated game experiences that can grow into successful franchises and reach more players by investing in new IP. Craig will report to me and join the Game Content and Studios leadership team, working closely with Alan during the transition. The existing XGS leadership team Alan established will remain intact and report to Craig.I am also pleased to announce that Joe Neate and Jim Horth will take over as co-leads of Rare. Their leadership has played a crucial role in Rares growth, and I am confident they will elevate the studio and its games to even greater heights. Interestingly, Hartman had only had his job as head of Xbox Game Studios for less than a year. Hartman led Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 for almost two decades before being pulled in to replace former Xbox Games Studio head Matt Booty last year. His retirement is somewhat surprising, but since its not due to any controversies in the company, its likely just a case of him wanting to retire from 30 years at Microsoft. This change of heads comes about a month after Microsoft laid off 650 employees. These layoffs are related to its decision in 2022 to acquire Activision Blizzard. While no games are canceled, this change of heads may signify a shift in Xbox Game Studios' future plans.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/craig-duncan-to-succeed-alan-hartman-as-xbox-game-studios-head-170254040.html?src=rss
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